that Sarah Klem

I’m not religious so when good things happen to me, I don’t thank god; I thank the universe.

And when I need something, I don’t pray; I ask the universe.

And, more often than not, when all things are turning to shit, I don’t cry out why god have you forsaken me, but instead accuse the universe of hating me. Or fighting with me. Or hazing me. You get the idea.

So, when, in the first 30 minutes of returning to work from hip replacement surgery I realized I lost my phone, couldn’t access gmail (double verification sends the code to my lost phone) and couldn’t email my ride home from my work account to let her know I didn’t have access to my phone or gmail due to a bug in my office email, I may have suggested to my sister (via Facebook chat -- the one thing I still had access to) that the universe seemed pissed off at me again.

She responded that it wasn’t so much pissed off as it just wanted some attention.

A while back, Bridie asked me to watch her father’s dog while he was in the hospital. The dog was an old, sweet cocker spaniel and I was happy to help out. At the end of a particularly busy week during which I had hardly been home, I was up and getting ready for work on a Friday when I heard Reggie (the dog) barking and snarling. I found him in my bedroom on my bed attacking a pillow.

Prior to this, Reggie had never jumped on my bed (in front of me) and barked only once at a cat for which he was rewarded handsomely with a treat. As soon as I entered the room, Reggie stopped attacking my pillow, jumped off the bed and scampered over to my feet. My heart broke. All the time I was spending out with friends and co-workers meant I was neglecting Reggie who was so desperate for attention, he took it out on a pillow. I immediately canceled my happy hour plans (I couldn’t cancel my plans to go to work) and returned home as soon as I could to spend the night watching movies and feeding Reggie treats.

I smiled at the thought that the universe could be behaving in a similar fashion: Sarah, it seems you haven’t noticed just how good you've had it lately. So I think I'll hide your iPhone from you for 45 minutes (it turns out I lost my phone in my friend’s car) setting you in panic mode especially once you realize you cannot contact said friend to let her know you lost your iPhone (but really find out if there is any chance you lost said phone in her car).

Though, this way of thinking transforms the universe from merely an absorber of my energy and into something else I can’t really think about as a non-religious person.

Instead, I will simply go home tonight, walk around my house and thank the universe for all that I have. Including my iPhone.